Setting goals is a critical part of getting what you want, whether it’s in your personal life or in business. There is quite simply no other way to create genuine lasting change. A close look at any achievement in your life will reveal that it was probably not possible without thorough planning and a well-executed goal supporting it. Here are various reasons why setting goals is so essential.

Create Clarity

You can only achieve clarity of vision through goal setting. Many of us have vaguely defined desires on our minds. But if there is no concrete outline of what you want, in the end you’ll only be spinning your wheels with no forward progress. Goals must be set twice – once vaguely in your mind and again concretely in reality. The clearer the goal is in your mind, the easier it is to create solid steps that will get you where you want to go.

Stay Responsible

Once you have determined your goal and start working towards it, you must see it through by employing your sense of responsibility. Whether or not you achieve your goal is solely dependent on your actions and attitude and has little to do with outside influences. The time for blaming others for your failure to achieve is through. You are the only one accountable for your success.

Take Action

A well-set goal paves the way for a concrete action plan. Simply wishing for things does not make them happen. You know, deep down, that today is the best day to start taking small steps toward your target. An essential part of the process of setting your goal is breaking it up into mini-goals with a daily plan of action. Following the plan means each day will bring you that much closer to your goal.

Get Motivated

If you have no goal to keep constantly in mind, how do you stay on the right path, particularly when things go awry? Making progress each day toward your goal through using your action plan will give you the motivation you need to keep you on target. Tracking your progress means you can see how far you’ve come and how much of a shame it would be to let all that effort go to waste. For many, the simple act of putting the goal into words and taking the first tiny steps is the best possible motivator.

Keep Focus

Without keeping an intense focus on your goals, you aren’t likely to ever achieve great things in life. Having goals and plans for achieving them keeps your focus on what you need to do to finally get what you want. Being led astray or distracted by shiny objects can make reaching your goal much more difficult. Setting goals and keeping your focus on them tells you exactly where to put your energy each day.

Take it One Goal at a Time

It’s important to set goals, but there’s also a right way and a wrong way to do it. Like anything in life, you will need to learn and practice the best ways to set goals in order to master the skill. It’s so difficult to see those struggling with goal making mistakes without learning from them, continually struggling to get even a little piece of what they want. You’re smart and motivated, and there are a lot of changes you can’t wait to make in your life and in your business, but you must slow down. Once you’ve set and met your first goal, you can think about adding the next. Most of us are at risk of burning out if we tackle more than one goal at a time. Besides, life is also about enjoying the path that leads us to our goals.